Abe Orobia
Mr. Eleazar Abraham L. Orobia (b. 1984), popularly known as Abe Orobia, in the art community and Sir Abe by his friends, students and mentees alike have been in the art and design industry since 1987. Abe Orobia came from a family of artists. His father Rogelio Orobia was an accomplished painter while his mother, Fe, is from the lineage of the Luna’s. His first inclusion in the art scene was when he was at the age of three. At five years old he became the youngest to be included in two group shows of the First Filipino Good Samaritan Artists held at Philamlife Pavilion in U.N Avenue in Manila in the year 1989. Being exposed to the art light at an early age, Abe had his first taste of success when he held his First Solo Show, dubbed, “Ang Unang Kulay Pintang Sining ni Abe” in the lobby of Makati Medical Center in 1990, which in turn became a sold-out success.
In 1992, because of his young age, he was chosen to be featured in the United Nations Development Fund TV Commercial for a campaign to save the earth and the environment. In the same year, Abe bagged a citation from the ASEAN Children Painting Competition as with the “Impressive Painting Award”, with the entry sent to Ugada-cho, Tokyo, Japan. Among his national awards are the Parangal ng Bayan Award for Arts and Culture (1995) and “Bisig ng Kabataan Awardee, 1999 Outstanding Filipino Achievers for Arts and Culture” (Kalookan ng Bantayog Jaycees and Kapit Bisig ng Kabataan (1999), held at the Malacañang Palace and Philam Life Pavillion respectively.
As lecturer and instructor in the academe since 2007 to the present, he was cited twice as Outstanding Faculty member in the College of Fine Arts and Design of UST (2009 and 2010) for his utmost commitment to share his talent and skills to the institution. More importantly he is serving as the faculty adviser and mentor of ARTELIER (the official traditional arts student organization of the De LaSalle College of Saint Benilde) since 2017. Two of its notable projects that posters nation building, and cultural integrity is the ‘Flores Para Los Muertos (Flowers for the Dead)’ a partnership endeavor of the City Government of Manila, Pinto Art Museum and Davies Paints, where Artlier is CSB’s official representative. Flores Para Los Muertos is mural project to commemorate the deceased and beautify the walls of Manila North Cemetery. The other one was ‘SKWELART’ a mural project in partnership with Butch Rufino, convenor of Indigenous People Projects of La Salle Philippines, Benilde’s Arts and Culture Cluster and Davies Paints to design and paint the façade and classrooms of Sentrong Paaralan ng mga Agta at Brgy. Catablingan, Gen. Nakar Quezon in 2020. Mr. Orobia, superseded as the head designer of the mural where he and his student mentees used ‘leaf motifs’ in the classrooms to signify the Agta tribe’s technology of using leaves as form of sign communication in the jungle. Since it is a dying culture according to his research Mr. Orobia made a dialogue and consultations with the elders of the tribe as well mentee elementary teachers from a previous Indigenous People workshop to make sure that everything is done with proper communication and approval from the Agta tribe. To date, Mr. Orobia’s professional growth is continuously expanding by being tapped as a facilitator to numerous art workshops, seminars, forums and curatorial works in different venues around the country and abroad which includes his series of lectures in art and design institutions in Jakarta and Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2009); “Instilling Appreciation of Liturgical and Incarnational Arts” (Appreciation Seminar) at San Carlos Seminary, Guadalupe Makati (2019) where he encouraged seminarians to engage in cultural heritage projects particularly focusing preservation and design continuity of old churches in the country; Head Facilitator of Art Workshops for Indigenous People (IP) Elementary Teachers from different parts of the Philippines which was realized in partnership with Butch Rufino, convenor of Indigenous People Projects, La Salle Philippines at Bukal ng Tipan, Taytay Rizal (May 2019); ‘Less is more Ink Online Workshop’ Still Life and Animal Drawing using ink at Etchr Studio an Australian based company where Mr. Orobia is the first Southeast Asian ad Filipino to conduct art workshops (2021); ‘Art is Essential’ webinar at Museo ng Muntinlupa, where Mr. Orobia made references to art quotes and discourses its significance in the pandemic times not just for the artist but every individual with different walks of life (2021); and ‘Thomasians in Modernism: The Pioneers of Philippine Modern Art’ at BRIDGES the official Youtube channel platform of the UST Alumni Association Inc. where Mr. Orobia presented history and role of Thomasian artists’ in the propagation of modernism in the country (September 2021)
As a proof of his recognition being an artist, his works have been featured by noted book publishers such as Visitacion de la Torre in “The Filipino Child” (1991) and by the PESO Book Foundation, as among the noted artist in the country (2000) and “SELF PORTRAIT (Reflections on the Role of Arts and Artist)” Catalogue by the Center for Art, New Ventures and Sustainable Development (2021). Moreover, Abe Orobia received several major commissioned projects, the latest was “The Basi Revolt,” a 2 meter by 5.5 meters relief sculpture inside the Municipal Hall of San Ildefonso, Ilocos Sur.
Abe Orobia is a Painting Major graduate from the prestigious University of Santo Tomas. Currently, he is a College Instructor and Lecturer at the School of Design and Arts in De LaSalle, College of Saint Benilde. At the side, he is providing lecture and workshop to Ayala Museum’s project called “The ARTroom” since 2013 to the present and other private institutions. His prominent art style and genre is symbolism and idyllic landscapes, this year he held his 8th one man exhibition at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, titled “Images of our Nation.” This major exhibition exemplifies Abe Orobia’s observation of the Fililipino as a whole and his reflections on the ongoing pandemic. The exhibit showcases artworks using ink as a medium which also part of conceptual framework and his raw skill in literature by creating proses for each artwork exhibited. The ink drawings presented in the exhibition are no other means socially engage since it tackles themes, issues and topics revolving around the pandemic such as the plight of our medical workers, community pantry, faith, resiliency, ancestral domain, farmers as backbones of the industry and maritime disputes
In 2016, Abe Orobia started his path as an independent curator on selected projects and in 2018 started as writing curatorial notes for exhibitions which includes the very recent VISION x Interpolation: All Thomasian Art Exhibition at Art Anton Gallery. This exhibition titled “VISION x INTERPOLATION” is organized by the personal efforts of Ms. Marissa Pe Yang, President of UST-CFAD Alumni Association to bring the whole Thomasian artistic community together. It aims to showcase generational practices and stylisms embodied by Thomasian seniors, mid-career and upcoming young artists. This exhibition is the first of the series of the line-up presenting them. It highlights different dialogues and expressions not limited to painting but print and sculptural works as well.
